“The socialization of search is more than just Tweeted URLs or Facebook Likes or LinkedIn Shares having a positive first/second-order impact on generic rankings,” Fishkin notes in his post. “It’s about influencing your social graph to see the content you share in their search results.”

Here’s an example. The first image is my Google SERP, produced when I’m logged into my Google account (click on each to see a larger, clearer version):

Personalized search results from Google for the term "content marketing strategies"

The second image is my SERP for the same search term, produced when I’m logged out:

Results from Google for the same search term, but with personalized results turned off.

As you can see, the results are different. Content from some colleagues of mine is featured prominently in the first result. In this case, my friends Vicky and Sean are exerting direct influence over what content I see.

Simply put, search engines are making the assumption that internet searchers would like to see relevant content from people they know – namely, the people they, follow on Twitter and Quora, are friends with on Facebook, share connections on LinkedIn and who populate their address books – and are putting relevant content shared by those people at the top of the search results we each see.

Google isn’t alone in using the social graph to influence search results. Facebook and Bing have teamed up and are starting to roll out a variety of features in Bing search results, including the display of relevant items liked by the searcher’s Facebook friends. The two companies describe their approach as one that adds personal recommendations from people you know to your search results, in order to aid decision making.

Well, this is a bit of a game-changer for brands, in a few different ways. For anyone concerned with marketing communications and public relations, this is big news. And for brands, I think the message from the search engines is clear.

1) Developing credible presences on networks like Twitter and Facebook is now an imperative.

2) Encouraging employees to build their own professional presences on social networks is officially a very, very good idea.

Back to what the burgeoning influence of the social graph on search results means for communicators.

For a savvy media pro, a credible and authentic Twitter presence is the new Rolodex. A vibrant social presence – in which connections with media, bloggers and analysts are cultivated – can keep one top-of-mind with people who really matter, and can mean your messages – the press releases you tweet, the thoughtful answers you leave on Quora, the content you share across networks – will be seen in your connections’ search results.

For brands seeking search engine visibility, the benefits of a robust social presence are clear – developing social connections with stakeholders (journalists, bloggers, customers, employees, etc.)

Something else brands need to consider is the importance of the conversations occurring in social channels. How people describe, discuss and refer to a brand or industry segment is going to affect search results. Brands need to monitor social media and stay on top of the ongoing conversation – changes in audience sentiment or vernacular can have a real-time impact on search results, and can also offer a tuned-in brand opportunity to connect and capitalize upon conversation trends.

The underlying trend is a relentless drive toward authenticity by the search engines. Powered by the sharing and interaction of the social layer, content sharing and the language we each use when we share content are rapidly becoming the equivalents of backlinks and metadata to SEO seven years ago: these factors play a key role in how search engines evaluate, index and display content in search results.

Within this authenticity trend is another important opportunity for organizations to shape the conversations in the social network, and that is brand journalism. Brands that can identify interesting people and stories within their businesses and tell those stories authentically will be a step ahead of everyone else in the online visibility game. Content that is interesting and unique captures audience attention, and they are likely to share it with their connections. Audiences aren’t fooled by puffery, however. A successful brand publishing strategy absolutely has to make content quality its cornerstone.

Author Sarah Skerik (@sarahskerik) is PR Newswire’s vice president of social media.

5 comments on Blog Post Title

Gnosis Arts
11:46 EDT on Jun 23, 2011

I read Fishkin’s blog as well. I agree with you that this development underscores the growing importance of social media for SEO. Your post distills the key points down and makes it easier to understand this. Thanks for writing it, and for being in my Twitter network, too, Sarah.

Third, I would say the solution is more complex. The idea of a “credible presences” centers on the idea of frequency, reach and engagement – with engagement defined as the quality of your effort as perceived by your audience.

This idea of “engagement” is a term dujour for marketing; however in practice most companies fail miserably at it. But as your post details, it is this engagement that matters.

In addressing this, companies must focus on the development of a strong content marketing strategy.

While social media networks, in combination with search results, matter, they all rely on quality content. And as you intelligently point out, the quality of content is now magnified not by a single channel, but through the amplification on all channels.

Victoria Harres
12:37 EDT on Jun 23, 2011

Sarah – you bring up a very good point about the importance of employees building a strong professional presence in social networks. A company that has a strong base of employees who understand this is a powerful company indeed. It’s a win/win situation. The company benefits, but so does the employee from a strong personal brand.

btw: your posts come up in my Google searches all the time :)

Sarah Skerik
12:37 EDT on Jun 23, 2011

Sean, your influence knows no bounds. And thanks for the thoughtful reply. Your emphasis on engagement is well-placed – search engines definitely consider social authority when evaluating content from the social layer. A Twitter account that was opened two days ago and has 4 followers won’t cut it.

nchacko
09:10 EDT on Jun 24, 2011

Great post and essential reading for any brand publisher……

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